Found guilty, Chapman's fate now in jury's hands

WEST CHESTER – In a swift but certain verdict, Laquanta Chapman, the Coatesville man accused of shooting a city teenager to death and then dismembering his body with a pair of chainsaws, was found guilty Friday of first-degree murder.

Chapman, 33, will now face a penalty hearing next week in which the prosecution will ask the jury of seven men and five women who listened to testimony against him in the death of 16-year-old Aaron Turner, to sentence him to death. Chapman’s attorneys, on the other hand, will present evidence that they hope will convince the panel to enter a sentence of life in prison without parole.

The jury deliberated for less than three hours before delivering its verdict. The jury also found Chapman guilty of conspiracy, abuse of a corpse, multiple drug and weapons violations, and cruelty to animals, the last charge related to Chapman’s killing of a pitbull in his South Chester Avenue home in an apparent attempt to cover up the murder of 16-year-old Aaron Turner, a neighbor.

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The panel began deliberating at 12:15 p.m. and notified court personnel that they had a verdict at 2:56 p.m. The jurors asked two brief questions early on of Judge William Mahon about technical details of two charges, but did not ask to see any of the hundreds of exhibits that had been introduced in the case.

When the jury forewoman answered the clerk’s question on the panel’s decision on the first-degree murder charge with a soft but firm “guilty,” there was a quick gasp of emotion from members of Turner’s family seated in the courtroom, including his mother, Angeline Blaylock. They then became silent to hear the rest of the six-page verdict.

Chapman, standing up at the defense table and wearing a white cotton pullover sweater and tan dress slacks, bowed his head slightly to look at some papers in front of him upon hearing the first-degree murder verdict. After the entire verdict was read he spent several minutes listening to Philadelphia defense attorney J. Michael Farrell, who will handle the so-called “penalty phase” of the trial, whisper in his ear.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Patrick Carmody, who led the prosecution in the case, declined comment after the verdict. “I don’t think it would be appropriate at this stage,” he said in the corridor outside the courtroom.

Chapman was arrested in November 2008 after police raided his home and found what Carmody described as a “house of crime” – more than half a dozen guns, quantities of marijuana, and blood. He was wearing a holster with two guns and a bullet-proof vest, police said.

Inside trash bags found in the home, police found items that would contain the blood evidence and DNA samples that the prosecution would ultimately use to declare Turner, who had been missing for two weeks, dead, and to ultimately charge Chapman with his murder.

The prosecution contended the murder occurred because Turner, a Coatesville Area Senior High School student, owed Chapman a drug-related debt. They said Chapman lured Turner to his South Chester Street home on the afternoon of Oct. 30, 2008, forced him into his basement, made him strip naked, and then shot him twice as he lay on the floor.

Another man, Michael Purnell, who has not been charged in the case, was also alleged to have shot Turner.

Days later, Chapman – with the help of his cousin, Bryan Byrd, who was visiting from his home in Newark, N.J., and who later told police he witnessed the fatal shooting – dismembered the teenager’s body with two chains saws, putting pieces of the body into garbage bags that were later picked up by trash collectors.

Chapman then shot a pit bull he owned and cut up the dog’s body with the same chain saws to disguise Turner’s murder with that of the dog, according to trial testimony.

Turner’s body has never been recovered. Authorities believe it was delivered to the Lanchester Landfill in early November 2008.

Evan Kelly, Chapman’s attorney in the merit phase of the trial, had tried to pin the murder on Byrd, suggesting that he caught Turner stealing marijuana, shot him, and then pleaded with Chapman to help him cover up the shooting.

Kelly said in his closing that although it was clear that his client had participated in the dismemberment of Turner’s body – DNA evidence pointed directly at Turner’s blood being on Chapman’s shirt and sneakers – there was no other evidence fingering him as the murderer except Byrd’s testimony, which he said was full of flaws.

“The only person who is telling you what happened in the government’s case is the polluted source, Bryan Byrd,” Kelly said. “But their entire theory doesn’t make sense.’

Byrd, 23, is being held in Chester County Prison awaiting sentencing. He pleaded guilty to the lesser charges of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and third degree murder in exchange for his testimony against Chapman. He faces a possible sentence of up to 97 years in state prison.

In his closing statements to the jury on Thursday, Carmody said that Turner had made the fatal mistake of getting involved in a drug world that Chapman ruled.

“You don’t screw up with this guy,” Carmody said of Chapman. “You don’t cross the boss.”

Mahon ordered the jurors to return to the Chester County Justice Center on Thursday following the Veteran’s Day holiday to begin hearing testimony, argument, and legal instruction on the death penalty. He cautioned them not to discuss the case with anyone or read media accounts of the trial.

“Take a deep breath, get a good rest, enjoy time with your family, and don’t talk to anyone about this case,” Mahon said.